Thousands of people could be paying TV licences for homes they no longer live in

TV Licensing urges people to check their details

by Andrew Hirst

11:42, 22 Sep 2017Updated11:45, 22 Sep 2017

TV licensing enforcement van(Image: unknown)

People may be paying their TV licence for homes they no longer live in.

TV Licensing is urging Direct Debit customers in Huddersfield to check their details online as recent data shows that customers’ licences could be registered at the wrong address.

TV Licence detector van(Image: Andrew Milligan/PA)

When the cost of the licence fee was fixed at £145.50 in 2011, TV Licensing wrote to 59,438 Direct Debit customers in Huddersfield letting them know their licence would be automatically renewed and they would not receive any contact from TV Licensing as long as they kept up their payments.

Due to April’s licence fee increase, around 12 million households are being sent new payment plans for the first time in five years when their licences are due for renewal. So far, over 8 million addresses have been mailed.

TV Licensing is encouraging anyone who has moved house to check they have updated their details as otherwise, their licence could be registered at the wrong address.

In the 12-month period between July 2015 and June 2016, an estimated 2.85 million people moved between local authorities in England and Wales. In July alone, 188,000 people updated their details on TV Licensing’s website, up 43% on the same month last year.

If you watch or record live TV, either through your TV or live online through a website, then you need to be covered by a TV Licence. You also need a licence to watch BBC programmes on iPlayer, on any device.